Project Partners
by Lily Hanson
Summary: A French assignment brings the Megaforce team closer together as they are forced to share a piece of their past with their teammates.
1. Assigned Partners

_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made._

Jake had promised to keep his distance from Gia, and intended on keeping that promise, but he couldn't stop himself from wishing Mme Lacroix would pair him up with Gia.

It was French class. Jake couldn't remember why he took it, except for the fact that Gia had signed up for it. There weren't many other guys in the class. Optional language courses weren't typically male dominated, which was likely the reason Gia had chosen it. Jake wasn't very good in French, but it was worth the effort to spend another class in the same room as Gia.

Emma, Noah, and Troy had all enrolled in French. Emma had shown an interest in the language for as long as Jake had known her, though he wasn't too sure why, and Noah had followed Jake, assuming learning a second language would be fun.

By the time Troy had gotten to Harwood County High, many of the classes had been filled up. French hadn't, so he had been forced into it. It was obvious on his face most days. From what Jake could see, Troy had very little interest in learning the language.

Mme Lacroix pulled a name from her hat and everyone who hadn't already been chosen listened carefully.

"Mlle Emma Goodall," she called out and reached into the hat once more. Gia crossed her fingers. If she had any luck, she would be paired up with Emma. Anyone else, and not only would she not be able to trust her partner would be of any help to her, but she would likely have to force them to keep their distance, "tu travail en équipe avec… M. Carver et… M. Burrows. Tu as de la chance. J'en ai tiré deux."

Troy looked up when he heard his last name and shrugged. He had no idea what the teacher said. Then he noticed Emma and Noah were both looking his way.

"What?"

"We're partners," Emma whispered.

"Three in a team?" Noah asked.

"She picked two names by accident," Emma explained. Troy shrugged his shoulders and went back to staring out the window. At the very least, Emma seemed to know what was going on.

Mme Lacroix pulled more names from her hat, and each time Jake was relieved. Until he heard his or Gia's name come out of the hat first, he didn't want to hear his or Gia's name.

"Mlle Moran et… M. Hollings, vous êtes en équipe. Voilà, cela est tout le monde. Bonne chance. Travail fort!"

The bell rang for the end of class. Jake stuffed his books in his bags and tried to hide the smile on his face as he remembered the promise he had made to Gia about leaving her alone. But she approached his desk.

"You're not slacking off," she said to him. Jake shook his head.

"I plan on acing this assignment," he told her without looking up. He knew she didn't like him staring. "Uh… by the way, what do we have to do?"

"First, we interview each other," Gia rolled her eyes and explained, "Then, we each write up a report on the other person. In French."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Then we present the report. So you better not make up any lies…"

"I'm not going to lie," Jake assured Gia with a playful smile, "Relax, I can barely tell the truth in French. There's no way I'll be able to lie."

"And no using this to…"

"Gia, you can trust me," Jake finally looked up at her and offered her a sincere grin, "I'm not going to hurt or embarrass you. We work in teams, so I'll let you read over my report before I even hand it in. I promise no funny business."

"_I'll_ hand the reports in," Gia said.

"Alright, sure. So shall we meet at my place or…"

"Ernie's. Tomorrow," Gia turned away, "Don't be late."

Jake nodded as Gia walked off and he continued to put his books away in his bags. Noah came over to him and gave him a gentle pat on the back.

"Give up."

"You might," Jake answered and put his bag on his shoulder, "I really think I'm making progress."

"She's cold and aloof, just like before," Noah rolled his eyes, "Yeah, there's the progress."

"She's more than that. You'll see. When I present my interview, you're going to know there's more to Gia than meets the eye. Everyone will."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Noah followed Jake out of the room and down the hall to their next class. "I know you, Jake, and you're going to do something stupid. Just ask Mme Lacroix if you and Emma can switch partners. I think it's for the best."

"I've waited forever for my chance to be paired up with Gia," Jake shook his head, "I'm not giving that up."

"Mistake!" Noah called out as Jake hurried ahead, "You're making a big mistake!"


	2. Best Friends

Noah had his doubts. He believed in his best friend and supported him in everything, but Jake's pursuit of Gia was crazy. There was no way someone like Gia would ever fall for or even be able to appreciate someone like Jake. Noah didn't want to see his friend getting hurt, and so he tried to turn Jake away from his romantic goals but it seemed as though nothing would get him to turn away. Nothing would get him to stop. Once Jake had his mind set on something it was do or die. Noah always hoped for the best, but sometimes, the best move was to die.

The bell rang to signal the end of class. Jake had a soccer practice so Noah had a couple of hours to himself. He collected his books and instead of running straight for his locker, he took the long way around and stopped by Gia's locker. She was collecting her books and it seemed Emma was nowhere near. Noah would have to do some fast talking. Lately, Emma was never far away for too long.

"Gia!" he called and she turned to him.

"Is it Gosei?" Gia asked, thinking that would be the only reason Noah would ever approach her. She had nothing against the school nerd, but they had very little in common. Though they were on the same Ranger team, outside of battles, there was nothing to bring them together. Gia reached into her locker and discreetly checked her morpher, "These things are a pain in the ass…"

"It's not Gosei. I… I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"Jake."

"I'll gladly switch French partners with you. Just go talk to Mme…"

"Don't lead him on," Noah looked straight at Gia and tried to stand tall. She looked back at him seriously.

"I'm not leading anybody on. I thought you were different, Noah. I thought you of all people understood that I'm not interested…"

"Look, Jake's a great guy. He's one of the best people I know. Maybe the best," Noah interrupted and tried to look strong. Strength was more Jake's department, but Noah had recently learned to believe in himself and he would put that lesson to good use again today. "I get he can be annoying and mildly deluded, but he's also really kind and… look, just don't hurt him. Either let him down gently or let him have a shot."

"Excuse me?"

"Everyone knows he's crazy about you, Gia…"

"Everyone is. Jake's no different. I'm not interested in anyone, no exceptions and especially no pity dates. After what happened…"

"Jake's very different. If you don't want him or like him that's fine. I don't expect you to, but you can at least show him the respect he deserves."

"I…"

"Just don't hurt him," Noah said before he turned away and hurried down the hall to his locker. Gia rolled her eyes, put her bag over her shoulder and walked off.

-Megaforce-

"Shouldn't we get to work on that French assignment?" Troy asked. "Where's Noah?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders as she and Troy walked out to the field behind the school, "He said he had something to do after class. He'll meet up with us at Ernie's."

"Why aren't we headed there now?"

"I've got something to do," Emma said. She stopped by the soccer field and looked out to Jake. He was easy to spot. Since his humiliating goal against his own team had led the Panorama team to victory in their last game, Jake had lost the respect of his team. Whenever they could, they would let him know how disappointed and angry they were with him. Whether it was a "stray" kick, an "accidental" shove, or Jake "just being clumsy", they found a way to remind him of his biggest mistake in his high school career.

"It involves Jake, doesn't it?" Troy asked. Emma nodded her head and then let out a sigh.

"Gia's always had my back growing up. Our parents were good friends, so we grew up together. We started school together. She was more outgoing…"

"Outgoing?" Troy asked.

"Gia was outgoing. She was always smart, fun, friendly, and really kind. I was the tomboy who loved pink too much to hang out with the boys, and who didn't fit in with the girls. I got picked on from time to time for it and no one in class ever wanted to be my friend. Except Gia. Whenever she saw the other kids picking on me, she put them in their place, made me feel better about myself, and then we hung out together. I've got to have her back now."

"So that means…"

Emma gave Troy a smirk and then walked out into the middle of the soccer field. She grabbed Jake and grabbed him away in the middle of practice. She brought him over to the bleachers and then threw him into the wall.

"Cross a line, and I'll let the Loogies rip you to pieces next battle."

"Whoa, relax," Jake gently pushed Emma away and straightened out his shirt. "I have no intention of hurting Gia…"

"This French assignment says otherwise."

"We were put together. I had no say in that. I'll admit, I'm happy, but…"

Jake noticed Emma reaching into her pocket and paused. She pulled out a paper and stuffed it in his hands.

"I wrote your French report for you. You can dumb it down or whatever so Mme Lacroix has no idea I wrote it, but you say this and only this when you present Gia to the class. Anything else and…"

"You'll let the Loogies rip me to pieces?" Jake asked. Emma nodded her head and smiled.

"You've got it," she pat Jake's head, "Now, go back out there, pretend this never happened, and remember your goal is the other team's net."

Emma walked away from Jake while Troy stayed behind for a moment to make sure the black Ranger was okay.

"That was…"

"I'm not going to hurt Gia," Jake looked Troy right in the eye, "You believe me, don't you?"

"I don't really know any of you," Troy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not taking a side. Just… we all need to get along. As long as none of this interferes with our duty to protect the planet, then I don't really care what happens."

"I'm not going to hurt her."

"Then don't," Troy answered and adjusted the shoulder strap on his bag, "I've got to go. Good luck at practice."


	3. Sharing Secrets

Their French assignment was simple. Troy, Emma, and Noah needed to interview their partners and based on the information they acquired, they needed to write a short report, almost like a mini biography on the person. They would turn in their paper after presenting it to the class.

The trio met at Ernie's with their notebooks, pencils, and some questions already floating around in their heads. For different reasons, they all wanted to do well. Emma liked French class, Noah was proud of his good grades, and Troy couldn't afford to fail a class, no matter how much he didn't like it.

"I guess it's lucky we all got picked," Troy commented as he took out his pen and paper, "If we're going to be a team, we're going to have to get to know each other. But… how do we do this? There's three of us."

"I can interview you," Noah shrugged his shoulders, "You'll interview Emma, and she'll interview me. That way everyone's covered."

"Sounds good to me," Emma nodded.

Noah smiled and put his pencil to his notebook, "Alright, Troy, you're the new guy, so where are you from?"

"Most recently," Troy answered, "Panorama City. My family was transferred here and… well, we've moved around a lot. What about you, Emma? Have you always lived in Harwood County?"

"Born and raised," Emma nodded her head. She turned to Noah, "You like robots, don't you?"

"I've got a thing for science and technology," Noah nodded proudly.

"Do you remember how that started?"

Noah looked around nervously and then set his pencil down. He remembered exactly how his passion for science started, though it wasn't a story he loved to share. Troy sensed Noah's hesitation and offered him a comforting smile.

"We're all friends. Just tell us the story. I'm sure Emma will edit out anything you don't want the class to know… right?"

"Promise," Emma smiled.

"Besides, we're also a team," Troy said. "I had a sensei recently and he taught me a lot about teamwork. The most important thing is trust. How about, we each share one story from our past, and then we'll trust that whoever writes our report will edit out details that the class doesn't need to hear. It'll be a good exercise."

Noah and Emma looked to each other and then over to Troy. Noah put his pencil back on his notebook, "You first."

Troy sighed. It was only fair and he had a lot of stories to tell.

Troy was just starting to understand the true meaning of Valentine's Day. For the past couple of years, he had done like the rest of his classmates and he had handed out meaningless Valentine's Day cards to everyone. This year, his parents had told him that the holiday was about doing something special for the person you cared for the most.

It was a young love, but it was the only thing Troy had known at the time. At eight years old, Troy had his first crush. She was beautiful, smart, very popular, and she seemed very nice. More than anything, Troy wanted her to be his Valentine. So, the night before, Troy spent every hour from the time he got home from school until bedtime making a very special card for Isabella. He decorated the card with hearts, wrote a little poem using her name, and drew pictures of the things she liked most. Now, on Valentine's Day, all he had to do was give it to her.

He walked over to her nervously as the class watched. Everyone could see Troy had a special card in his hands. It was big and colourful and they all wanted to see what he would do with it. Troy tapped Isabella on the shoulder and when she turned around he held out the card.

"I like you, like you," Troy said nervously while at the same time he tried to keep his gaze on Isabella instead of the crowd of people around him. "Isabella, will you be my…"

"Ew, boys are gross. Especially you, Troy," Isabelle threw the card over her shoulder and began to laugh in Troy's face, "What's wrong with you? Couldn't you have just gotten me a normal card like everyone else? Or even better, no card at all! No one wants anything from you, loser."

Isabella shoved Troy, pushing him backwards into the garbage pail. He landed butt first and couldn't get himself out. The other kids started to laugh and tease him. They called him a loser and threw his commercial valentines in his face.

In the present, Troy played nervously with his hands and couldn't bring himself to lift his gaze even slightly to look to his friends. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I was a shy kid before that. It took a lot of courage for me to… I've been humiliated ever since."

"What a bitch," Emma rolled her eyes. She reached out and touched Troy's hand, "She obviously didn't appreciate something so thoughtful. It's her loss, Troy."

Troy nodded his head and breathed out a little sigh, "Well, that's my story. Do you have all you need, Noah?"

The blue Ranger nodded his head, "I've got it all. Don't worry, I won't humiliate you with this report. So, who goes now?"

"Thanks for volunteering, Noah," Emma chuckled. Noah looked her way, slightly wide-eyed, before he sighed and shook his head. Whether he was second or third, this story would come out.

"Alright, the reason I like science and robots so much is… when I was a kid, I wanted to build myself a friend."

"You wanted to…" Emma turned to Troy curiously and then they both looked to Noah, "Why would you want to build yourself a friend?"

"Look at me," Noah gestured to himself and sigh, "A couple of weeks ago, I couldn't even lift an ax, and then I got upset over the fact that I couldn't lift an ax."

"So?" Emma asked, "You still managed to do it, and you kicked that monster's butt. And it was your idea to quarantine the people turned Loogies."

"You did great," Troy nodded.

Noah shook his head, "I'm not… I'm not strong like the boys, and I'm not even really into sports, and hanging out with girls? That wasn't going to happen. Girls don't like science. Not when they're younger."

Troy glanced over at Emma quickly, remembering she had told him a similar story only a couple of hours before. It seemed the team did have something in common.

"Yeah," Emma nodded her head in agreement with Noah, "Girls are usually more into princesses and tea parties and dress-up."

"Exactly. So I never fit in," Noah continued. "People weren't really working out with me, so I focused on what I knew. I tried to come up with ways of building myself a robot friend. He would like everything I liked, and we would be best friends. Science kind of took over and I fell in love with it. For several years, science was my Valentine."

"Wait," Emma looked up from the notes she was taking on Noah's story, "What about Jake? You two have been friends forever, right?"

"He came a little later in kindergarten," Noah nodded his head, "He was pretty cool. He liked soccer, obviously, but he played video games with me, and liked helping me with my science and robot experiments. But yeah, that's basically it. That's my story on why I love robots so much. But, um, Emma…"

"I'll leave out the part about science being your Valentine," Emma chuckled as she reassured Noah, "And I'll never tell anyone you said that."

"Same here," Troy nodded. He turned to Emma, "Your turn."

"But I already…"

"Noah would be left out if you didn't share something," Troy smirked, "Look, what happens in this triangle, stays in the triangle. One story. I need it for my report."

Emma groaned, "Alright, I guess it's fair. I cut my own hair when I was a kid and… it looked pretty bad. My mom had to take me to get it cut properly after that, but the only thing anyone could do for it was to cut it really, really short. My friends made fun of me for weeks. After school, I would have to run home so no one would see me cry."

"Ouch, that's pretty rough."

"I'm scared of getting haircuts now," Emma whispered softly. "I mean seriously scared. I get panic attacks. I can't go anywhere near a salon without feeling anxious."

"But your hair's not that long," Noah pointed out.

"Gia has to come with me… and hold my hand," Emma blushed and looked down at her own notes. "When… um… when she found out I was running home to cry, she got her hair cut really, really short. Shorter than mine. So whenever I go, she promises to get her hair cut really short if I think my hair is too short. So yeah… that's mine," Emma glared at Troy, "If you tell anyone…"

"I won't embarrass you," Troy shook his head and then offered his hand to Emma. They shook, and then Troy did the same with Noah. After Emma and Noah shook hands, they grabbed their bags. They had all they needed from the interviews; all that was left was to write up the report, peer-edit for any mistakes, and then present their assignments to the class.


	4. Amazing Needs Depth

Jake drummed his fingers on the table at Ernie's. He had a milkshake next to his notebook and pencil, and another milkshake sitting across from him on the table. He was waiting for Gia so they could get to work on their assignment. They only had a few days to write it which meant they needed to get started.

In his pocket, Troy had the paper Emma had written up for him in regards to Gia. The information was very basic and even a little boring. His presentation would be far from entertaining if this was the paper he had to turn in and Jake wasn't known to give boring presentations.

He was determined to do a little digging on Gia. He had the perfect excuse. He knew he couldn't dig too far, he didn't want to cross any lines, but there had to be more to Gia than just being the hottest and smartest girl in school. Amazing needed depth.

A yellow bag was dropped on the chair across from him as Gia sat down.

"You start."

Straight to business. Jake nodded his head, "Ask away."

"I don't know. Tell me about soccer or… whatever," Gia rolled her eyes and put her pencil to her notebook to begin writing.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, "There's no real story there. My parents signed me up when I was a kid and I loved it. I have ever since."

"Great," Gia took down his answer, "How did you and Noah meet?"

"Kindergarten," Jake answered. "I was the new kid, saw Noah, thought he looked pretty cool and we started hanging out. No big."

"You're a little boring," Gia pointed out and sighed, "Alright, look; just tell me something I can write up for this assignment. The first time you broke a bone, or your first family vacation, or…"

"Gia, I'm just a normal guy. There's nothing exciting about me."

Gia raised an eyebrow. Jake leaned back in his seat and chuckled.

"Alright, there's nothing exciting that people need to know. On the surface, I'm just like everyone else. I do okay in school, I've got a favourite sport, and I like hanging out with my friends. You can dig all you want. I'm an open book. What you see is what you get."

"Seriously? So there's no depth to you, at all? There's literally nothing I can write about for this assignment?"

"You could write the Ranger thing," Jake tapped his fingers on her notebook. Gia looked up at him and rolled her eyes. He shrugged, "What? I don't have a secret agenda or anything. I'm a stand-up guy. You should know that."

"I know you're just like everyone else," Gia shook her head and closed her book. She pushed the milkshake Jake had bought for her closer to him, "I know what you're thinking. I saw you in class when Mme Lacroix was picking out names. You were just like every other guy. Drooling and hopeful…"

"So?"

"Get over it! How many times do I have to turn you all down? How long before you get it? No means no!"

"I get that. I really do," Jake saw Gia was packing up her bag and she looked ready to leave. He reached out and grabbed her arm gently, "Alright, look, I think it's obvious by now that I've got a huge crush on you. Like, a monster crush. Even when I try, I can't get you out of my head. So yeah, in that sense, I'm the same as all the other guys. I want you. But I also care about you. A lot."

"Leave me alone. I'll do this assignment on my own. I'll just write about… nothing. One fail won't screw me up, right?"

Gia pulled her arm free from Jake and started to walk off. Just as she was about to leave, the ground shook. She looked out the glass doors and saw people running and screaming and they were all headed in one direction. With a loud groan she turned to Jake and nodded her head. He jumped up, ready for action while the rest of the customers and Ernie hid under tables or used the emergency exits to run for safety.

When Jake caught up, Gia ran ahead. If all the people were running one way then danger was the opposite. She and Jake pushed their way through the crowd until they saw a group of Loogies terrorizing the plaza.

"Over there," she pointed to an alley and pulled Jake along where it was safe to morph without being seen. She was just a little faster than he and ran into battle first. Jake followed her as soon as he could, but was swarmed by the Loogies before he could get to her side.

"Any sign of a big bad?"

"Less talk, more fight! The others should be here soon."

Jake groaned. Gia was a tough shell to crack, but he would get through to her. He knew he had to. Her guard was up, and given what had happened at the party, Jake knew it was up for a reason. He also knew it didn't always have to be. He wouldn't hurt her. He would never do to her as Mick and Alex had.

"I'm scared of hospital," he called out. "My grandmother, my aunt, and two of my cousins died in a hospital within a month when I was a kid."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Gia called back. Jake kicked a Loogie in the chest then shrugged.

"They were in an accident, so for a while I was scared of the car, but I got over that. You know how things are different when you're a kid, and what makes sense when you get older is kind of… strange and scary? Well, I was really close to my grandmother, my aunt, and my cousins and when they died it really hurt. To make matters worse, my parents took me to visit and then days later I was told they had bled out, or some surgery went wrong, or whatever, and they died. So I thought the hospital had something to do with it and I just… can't get over it. To this day, I'm still scared of that place"

Jake took down the last of his Loogies and smiled to himself as he looked around. It seemed it had just been a minor attack, as no monster had shown himself and Gosei or the other Rangers weren't calling him or Gia to another part of town.

"You can write that for your report," Jake turned to where Gia had been fighting the Loogies but saw she wasn't there. He groaned loudly, let his shoulders fall, and powered down. "Or you can run first chance you get."

He turned away. He would have to leave quickly before the emergency team got to the sight to clean up the mess and make sure there was no one left behind. He didn't want to get caught and have to explain his presence as well as how he managed to sit through an entire attack and only earn himself a couple of cuts and bruises.

He stopped before he got too far. He heard something. It was a faint cry. He decided he would check it out, and held his morpher in his hand just in case he would need it again. He hadn't been a Ranger for long, but he knew the monsters were very sneaky. At any time, they could be up to anything.

He approached a car that had been overturned from the attack and heard the faint cry once more. He checked around the car but there was nothing.

"Hello?" he called out and then something hit his foot. He looked down and saw a morpher. It wasn't his. His was still in his hand. He picked it up and then had the idea to check inside the car, "Gia?"

"Help."

He saw her lying on the ceiling of the overturned car. She had powered down and there were small pieces of glass stuck in her shoulder and upper arm as well as a gash on her forehead. Jake turned to the car's windshield and noticed it was shattered.

"Ouch," he looked back to Gia, "That's got to…"

He trailed off when he saw Gia's head fall. His adrenaline spiked and he had to work quickly to get her out, only he had no idea how. He heard sirens in the distance.

"I'll get help," he told her as he jumped back up to his feet, "Don't move… uh… well… I'll be back."

He raced out on the street until he saw the ambulance coming closer. He waved his arms and called for the driver to stop. When the truck did stop, the paramedics rushed out.

"Kid, are you okay?"

"It's my friend," Jake pointed down the street where he could still see the car Gia was trapped inside. He knew the Loogies could get pretty rough even for the Rangers, so coming up with a believable story wouldn't be too tough, "We were driving through when those freaky monsters came out of nowhere. She crashed the car and they just… they."

"Are you okay?" the paramedic asked again while his partner started to run to the Jake had pointed to.

"I'm fine. You have to help her," Jake pushed the paramedic towards the car and that was his signal to go. The fire truck also came by and when the firemen came from their truck, Jake pointed them in Gia's direction. He bit his lip nervously as he watched them pull Gia from the car. Her Ranger suit had taken most of the damage, but being thrown through a windshield and then having the car flip over was surely going to leave something behind. The paramedics got her into the ambulance and then one waved Jake over.

"You can get checked out too. C'mon, kid."

Without a second thought, Jake climbed into the truck. He sat down beside Gia who was awake again.

"I thought you were scared of hospitals," she whispered.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, "An ambulance isn't a hospital. Is there anyone you want me to call? Your parents or…"

Gia shook her head and then winced as the paramedic touched the gash on her forehead.

Jake reached out and put his hand on her arm, "You don't have to tell me anything, if you don't want to. Emma wrote up a report for me and I'll probably get a better grade on it than anything I could do so…"

"I don't trust guys," Gia sighed and turned to Jake. "Mick and Alex weren't the first to do something… like that."

"Then who was?"

Gia looked away, "I don't want to talk about it. It was stupid. It's just… that's why, okay. I didn't protect myself and something happened. Can we just… be friends?"

Jake nodded his head, "Yeah, sure."


	5. On The Soccer Field

Gia waited by the bleachers. She had told Emma they would meet up at Ernie's after she made a quick stop somewhere important. Reluctantly, Emma had let her go on her own.

I had been a few days since the Loogie attack. Gia hadn't spent too long in the hospital as the doctor plucked and pulled the glass from her arm and stitched up the gash in her forehead, all while telling her just how lucky she was. Her parents had been called by the hospital and had rushed in to care for her as soon as they heard what had happened. Emma, Noah, and Troy had all stopped by her house to check up on her. According to Troy, after Emma had stopped by to see her best friend, she had gone to see Gosei and gave him an earful for not warning her or the others that Gia and Jake had been alone fighting Loogies. Gia was sad she had missed it.

But, as she rested in bed, there was a thought she couldn't get out of her head. It drove her crazy until she went back to school. She had returned right on time to hand in her French assignment.

She had presented the basics on Jake. While she had been in the hospital waiting for her parents to pick her up, they had started to talk. She knew a little more about him, and presented that to the class. It was very straightforward, but if the teacher's nods and smile were anything to go by she was sure she had done well.

Jake's presentation surprised her. She hadn't told him much that wasn't on the report Emma had already handed out and gave him her blessings to talk about her to the rest of the class. It had been the least she could do for the guy who had stuck by her through her entire visit to the hospital, in spite of the fact that he was visibly uncomfortable throughout the whole thing. Her sacrifice would have come at a cost. Because she was so cold and aloof, no one in the school knew much about her. It had been their chance, and Jake would be a god for finding out something as simple as Gia's birthday.

But instead of presenting, Jake had pulled out a torn paper from his bag and handed it to the teacher.

"_My dog ate it."_

_Mme Lacroix looked to the paper and then to Jake with a sigh._

"_Y a-t-il quelque chose que tu peux dire à la classe au sujet de Mlle Moran?"_

_Jake looked to Gia for a quick translation. She whispered in his ear, "She's giving you a chance to earn presentation marks. Just tell them something, anything about me. It's fine. You don't have to fail."_

_Jake shook his head and then turned to the teacher, "__Uh… Je ai oubli__é__ tout.__"_

_Mme. Lacroix shook her head, __"Tu as tout oublié? Date de naissance? Son école élémentaire?"_

"_Jake…"_

_Jake simply shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, I didn't really get the assignment anyways, so I'm just going to sit down."_

_Jake took his seat and covered his head with his hood._

Gia looked out at the soccer field. Jake had been practicing with his team, but they had gone and he had been left alone. She still couldn't believe what he had done for her.

Suddenly, a ball came flying her way. Jake called for her to duck, but Gia stepped to the side and let the ball go right past her. Jake hurried over with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you okay? Those were some pretty sweet reflexes."

Gia shrugged her shoulders, "Look, I just wanted to thank you for the presentation today."

"If those guys want to get to know you, they'll have to do it the old fashion way," Jake stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and smiled, "They'll have to dig you out from the inside of an upside down car like a gentleman."

"You didn't have to do that, though. I feel bad…"

"One fail won't kill me," Jake said, "My parents kind of expect it anyways, so it's really no big."

"I went to talk to Mme Lacroix. I explained the Loogies and the car accident and…"

"My car accident? You mean like…"

"No, no. Mine," Gia answered. "You know, our cover story."

"Oh, right…"

"I told her you typed up my assignment for me. After I wrote it all by hand first, of course. I told her the computer light makes my headache worst and how by the time you were done writing mine, there was no time for you to type yours."

"You didn't have to."

"I did," Gia said, "So, I gave in the report Emma wrote up for you. Mme Lacroix read it over quickly and graded it for you. You got a B."

"A B?"

"On the written assignment. You still failed the presentation, but at least the written portion was worth a little more. I think you're getting a D+ overall."

"I passed," Jake smiled, "Even though, technically, I didn't put any work into the assignment."

"She doesn't have to know that," Gia shook her head. She walked over to where Jake's soccer ball had stopped rolling and picked it up. Jake gave her a look.

"That's a handball."

"Actually, it's a soccer ball," Gia teased before dropping the ball and kicking it. To Jake's amazement, the ball flew across the field and flew into the net.

"Super smart, super beautiful, and super talented," he said. Gia shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing you can't already do, right?"

"Uh… yeah, well… technically, that's still a handball, so it doesn't count."

Jake ran across the field to pick up the ball and kicked it back over. He almost got it into the net, but the ball hit the post and bounced away. Gia held back a laugh and Jake's shoulders slumped forward.

"At least it would have been the right net," she walked over to get the ball and passed it back to him. Then she went and stood in net, "One more try, Holling."

"Gia, I thought the doctor said you had to take it easy. What if I hit you?"

"You're a shitty player," Gia called out teasingly, "I'm goalie. You're not supposed to think about hitting me."

Jake nodded his head and prepared himself to take the shot. Gia braced herself to jump out of the way but found she didn't have to. When Jake kicked the ball, he kicked it to the left, missing the net completely.

He missed her half of the field completely. She turned to look at him. He simply shrugged.

"Not going to hurt you."

Gia smiled and picked up her backpack, "I'm meeting Emma at Ernie's then we're going animal stalking. Want to join?"

"Animal stalking?"

"That's what I call it. It's kind of fun… sometimes… well, I'm still waiting for a bear to fight a coyote or something… but it could be… less boring."

"Sounds… not too boring," Jake chuckled. "Just let me get my stuff."

_End_

_Auhor's Note: Megaforce Series coming next!_


End file.
